Progress

After hard work for about 10 days, we're showing some real progress. All of the stoves are done except for one and we're finishing all of the floors today in Chihuitan, and then the contractor is moving on to Xemuj. So we should be all done by mid week next week!

I'm not going to lie, it has been hard work. Up really early to get up to the communities at a reasonable hour. Working lifting block and mixing cement can get really tiring. My back and legs are always sore and my hands are all blistered and cut up. But with the end in sight it really seems worth it. Some of the families even wrote my name "Recuerdo a Lic. Abril" in their floor to remember me by! That was really sweet.

So things are going really well, so far we haven't had one big problem with the materials or building and the stoves are looking really, really good! It's so great to know that the women have really learned a new skill and have worked with their neighbors to help build each others' stoves. They have helped everyone who has needed it, for example there are a couple widows who don't have husbands or families to help them build their stove, so on a chosen day four or five of their neighbors who are project participants have show up and built the stove with her, always finishing that day.

They are super efficient and due to that it looks like we'll be 100% finished with the project before Holy Week!